Follow Us

Walmart vs. Amazon Catfight Reaches Epic Prime Day Proportions

The Prime Day catfight between Amazon and Walmart continued yesterday, as Greg Greeley, Vice President of Amazon Prime, scratched back at Fernando Madeira, President and CEO of Walmart.com.

A day after Walmart’s Madeira clawed in a blog post about Amazon about its pay-to-play sale, and how its only open to Amazon Prime members, Amazon’s Greeley screeched back at Walmart with claims that it is charging customers more to buy in its brick-and-mortar stores than at Walmart.com.

In the wake of Amazon’s Prime Day announcement last week, Walmart announced its own online-exclusive sale in an effort to steal some thunder from Amazon Prime Day, which is being “celebrated” on July 15, the eve of Amazon’s anniversary.

“We’ve heard some retailers are charging higher prices for items in their physical stores than they do for the same items online,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President of Amazon Prime, in a statement made to Business Insider, (an online news outlet in which Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is an investor in through his personal investment company, Bezos Expeditions). “The idea of charging your in-store customers more than your online customers doesn’t add up for us, but it’s a good reminder that you’re usually better off shopping online.”

Walmart has denied that allegation, which is a counter-punch to Walmart’s Madeira’s blog post from Monday, in which Madeira wrote in an obvious swipe at the $99 subscription price to be an Amazon Prime member.

“We’ve heard some retailers are charging $100 to get access to a sale, but the idea of asking customers to pay extra in order to save money just doesn’t add up for us,” said Walmart’s Madeira, President and CEO of Walmart, in a blog post. “We’re standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a premium to save.”

While Madeira did take a jab at Amazon Prime, Walmart launched its own subscription service in May, Shipping Pass, which gives consumers unlimited three-day shipping for $50 per year – yet another counter-punch to Amazon Prime.

Partner Content

Being prepared for the holiday rush used to mean stocking shelves and making sure your associates were ready for the long hours. But the digital revolution has changed everything, most importantly, customer expectations. Retailers with a physical store presence should be asking themselves—what am I doing to wow the customer?